National Housing Maintenance Forum
NHMF best practice articles
Displaying records 1 to 10 of 39
Making connections
A couple of years ago we were expecting services to tenants via the Internet to take off in a big way. Everyone would soon have the Internet available through their TVs
Bob Williams
Win the invoice paper chase
Do you still manage your Repair Invoices on the basis of one order, one invoice? Would a 98% reduction in Responsive Repair invoices be of interest? Read on to find out more...
Graham Teed
Reporting repairs over the internet
If you are thinking of starting to offer services over the Internet, then Housecall is an ideal first step.
Bob Williams
Setting up a call centre
In 1997/8 English Churches underwent a radical restructure to improve the quality of its services. Central to this restructure was the setting up of the ECHG Customer Service Centre in January 1998.
David Adams
Housing on line
Repair requests generate the vast majority of calls to social landlords and the Internet offers a way of both making repairs easier to report and reducing costs.
Bob Williams
Bromford Living
Bromford Living operates over 52 Local Authorities with a diverse portfolio from modern new build technology to Regency listed buildings and equally diverse customers from specialist young persons accommodation to housing specifically for the visually impaired and traditional supported and general needs. Services have to be adaptable and evolve. We have developed and maintained a holistic approach to maintenance that delivers exceptional results.
The Wrekin Housing Trust
Lean techniques and works category teams yield proven cost savings Wrekin Housing Trust is always looking for new ways to maximise its resources while enhancing the customer experience. Delivering its major improvement programme was no exception, with the organisation going beyond its own industry borders to find new and innovative ways of moving forward. The task was to increase overall customer satisfaction to more than 98% when delivering the major improvement programme, and at the same time reduce the cost of that delivery. Striving for continual improvement the team settled on lean thinking from the automotive industry as well as the category management model from the retail sector to help them achieve these goals. At the end of the process the results were clear; customer satisfaction has been raised to 98.7% with cost savings of around 2.9m or 10% of the budget which was used to fund additional improvements to the Trusts housing stock.
Parkway Green Housing Trust
Parkway Green has overhauled its in-house repairs service solely based the feedback from its employees and most importantly its customers. This kicked off the 'Repairs Excellence Project' which implemented radical changes in the way the repairs and gas service was delivered around customer need. As a result of this project the Trust has seen 278,00 savings based on efficiency measures put in place and radical changes in working practices tailored around customer feedback. This project has developed Initiatives called PG Turnaround and PG Gateway, these projects has seen ex-offenders secure permanent employment and local students the opportunity to gain practical on-the-job experience whilst completing their education. The repairs service has been recently accredited by HQN whom awarded full and unconditional HQN accreditation. HQN were particularly impressed with the lengths to which staff strive to provide excellence and we will be showcasing the many areas of innovation and best practice identified.
Wirral Partnership Homes
The evolution of WPH's asset management and maintenance service review can be traced back to customer feedback stemming from research undertaken in 2009. In response Wirral Partnership Homes undertook a fundermental review of its approach to the provision of quality housing and quality services for customers. The review focused on repairs and maintenance, capital investment, development and improving efficiency. The reviews outcome resulted in improved customers satisfaction levels of 95.9%, service delivery savings in excess of £1.5m and the lauch of a 400 unit new build programme.
Merlin Works
Merlin Works has undergone a transition since transfer from South Gloucestershire Council to improve the service it delivers to its residents through increased use of ICT. Initially PDA's were introduced, trackers added to company vehicles and Opti Time introduced for dynamic scheduling of the workforce. Performance improvements have been evidenced throughout the process and ongoing improvements are recognised. The next stages are planned and fully tested and trialled prior to implementation to ensure the service continues to run smoothly at all times and no disruption is felt by the service users. Merlin Works ensures that its implementation of ICT is to improve the service for the residents it serves and the staff it employs.
